I have an unusual situation that is more comical than anything and I guess I’m just trying to figure out what’s going on. I have an adorable 33" min mare that is cute as a bug. She is 4 years old and I have owned her since she was 6 months old. She has a 2 year old quarter filly, a mini donk and a yearling quarter gelding in the pasture with her. This past year she has become averse to me working with the other horses out in the pasture, particulary the mini donk and the filly. (The gelding has only been here a few weeks). If I come out into the pasture to brush the girls or work with them for any reason. Dolly, the mini, will run in big circles, rush by me and try to spook the horse Im working with, as if she’s trying to set them free. She tries to crowd me a bit then generally quits and goes away after a few minutes. It’s more funny than anything and I’m wondering if she is protecting her girls or jealous of the attention She is definitely the alpha of the group and has to be the boss mare. What are your thoughts?
You need a whip. When your precious mini pulls this nonsense, thump her. Her behavior is not acceptable, no matter how cute it may appear.
My thoughts are that you need to imagine that she is 17 hands tall and act accordingly. That means a whip and a training plan. The world is full of unmanageable mini horses and feral Chihuahua dogs because they are so “cute and tiny.” They don’t meet good ends
This pony may well hurt you, but definitely can and will cause herd chaos and get you hurt by other horses.
I have also done pasture board mostly recently for horsey vacation. Being in the field with a herd is inherently risky, and trying to do focused work with one horse even more so. You need to always carry a whip, to get out of the way when they have a rip round, and to establish a routine. But it’s much better for all if you can work one horse outside the field
Minis crave attention and can be pesky pains in the butt about it (i have 2). I’d just enclose your mare somewhere else while you are working with the others. And she needs to learn to respect your space but that can be complicated if you have another horse involved, I’d work on that with her alone, one on one.
/
This X 1000
I have an 8yo mini gelding who lives with 2 other geldings: 13h pony & 16h horse.
All turned out 24/7 with free access to stalls.
I’ll often find all 3 in 1 12X12 stall & mini routinely shares hay in the same stall as the horse.
Pony does not allow this familiarity.
I do separate the mini for grain as he’s on TC Sr, the others get oats.
While I have allowed the mini more freedom inside the barn - roaming the aisle, plundering stacked hay bales while the others are in their stalls - he still behaves respectfully to me.
Goes into his own stall when told “go to your house”.
I routinely dispense treats in the morning with all 3 coming to where I’m sitting & respectfully waiting to be handed their allotment.
I treat all 3 as if I am herd boss & after 6yrs none have challenged me.
FWIW: Horse is the herd boss when I’m not around, but defers to me.
I had a full size Paint mare, a medium pony gelding and a small Hackney pony gelding, all living together in my pasture. The Paint had boundary issues, and frequently had to be reminded that all the humans were alpha over her.
One day, I was out in the pasture putting a halter on the Hackney to take him into our harnessing/saddling area. The mare came up on his other side where I didn’t see her as the Hackney and I were the same height; he blocked my ability to see past him. She bit him on the neck and he flinched away from her, hitting me in the face. My glasses flew off and my eyes were tearing from the impact. My vision was awful in those days (thank you cataract surgery since then), and I couldn’t see to find my glasses. How they didn’t get crunched, I don’t know. But everybody froze when I told them to, and I found my glasses by feeling around on the ground.
We were already dealing with the mare’s behavior every time it surfaced, but I didn’t think she’d go quite that far. I learned the hard way.
Somehow, I had no permanent damage, no bruising, just a sore face for a day.
Even a mini can hurt you. And I agree with the others who say she may also incite your other horses to hurt you.
Rebecca
My father’s obnoxious Chihuahua lucked out. As they were wheeling dead Dad out of the house, I asked “When do you want me to take the dog to the vet?” My mother and sister were more forgiving than I was.
No Im not looking for advice, Im just trying to understand the behavior. A whip in a group of 4 horses could easily get me trampled or kicked in the head.
Shes definitely not unmanageable. Feisty maybe but nothing vicious and she isnt going to get euthanized for her behavior. Geez, please read the post.
Im pretty experienced, not asking for training advice just an explanation for behavior. Her behavior isnt putting me in danger.
Please read the post. Im just trying to understand the behavior. She isnt threatening or dangerous, just a booger.
Im not looking for training advice just info on the behavior. Whips in a group of horses arent a good idea.
I would respectfully disagree. I try to always have at least a dressage whip and preferably a longe whip when I am in a pasture with a herd. None of these horses are skittish or reactive to a whip, but they often require being told to stand back and give me room. Being in a group of horses is inherently risky.
The last time my mare was on the vacation field, the boss mare had a routine for her. Boss mare made my mare stand back while boss mare came to greet me and check me out. I was allowed to go visit my mare, but my mare was not allowed to approach me initially. When the mare herd was dispersed, we moved the two of them onto paddock board, they became best buddies as the core of the former herd.
Anyhow, your mini could be doing any variation on resource guarding or wanting to exert dominance on the other horses. I understand she is not dangerous per se, but the risk is that she spooks the horse you are working with or bites or kicks him. My advice still stands: would you tolerate this in a 17 hand draft cross? If not, don’t tolerate it in a “cute” mini.
It is a behaivor that I would not encourage by having her loose while you work on the other younger animals. You are putting everyone at risk. You are not fully focused on the task at hand due to mini running amuck, the young animal you are working is now distracted because of the mini running amuck.
It is a no win situation for everyone. You will get hurt. Tie up the mini mare when you are working the other two.
Im 64, have raised national high point western pleasure horses, have held a trainers license from the Kentucky Racing Commission, exercised/trained/raced thoroughbreds for 5 years, raised a stakes winning colt and filly, showed national and state high point halter champions. I have probably owned and raised 30 horses in my lifetime. I promise, I have my horses quite under control.
I have an abundance of experience and can promise I got this . Im looking for someone who understands horse behavior.
K.
From your listed experience you should understand horse behavior.
Mini size does not mean they behave any differently than a larger horse.
Nor should you treat mini’s behavior differently than you would any other equine.
? Im not sure how this thread became so angry but I think I will just delete it for my sanity.
There is no reason to be upset. The behavior you describe has no place in domestic horses. No one was suggesting euthanasia as a current option but making a strong point that if you allow this sort of unwanted behavior that other horse people will not find it amusing. I can’t stand little dogs and horses a like that haven’t been taught manners and boundaries. My mini behaved as well if not better than my bigs so I never had to be embarrassed when a professional was working with her. It was commented on so not training the tiny beasties to behave is more normal than it should be. Tie the mare while you are working the others so she understands that she doesn’t get to control the situation. Heck tie all of them that aren’t the active participants in working. The youngest might make that hard but that is also training.
This is exactly what the top horse would do if you turned a new horse out with the herd: try to herd the other horses away from the intruder. Not rocket science as far as decoding horse behavior, and not cute. It’ll take you out at the knees eventually and then if you’re unlucky the bigger one will spook and step on you. Get a whip.
